What is autonomous (adaptive) cruise control?

Stuart Wright

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Autonomous cruise control (ACC; also called adaptive cruise control, radar cruise control, traffic-aware cruise control or dynamic radar cruise control) is an optional cruise control system for road vehicles that automatically adjusts the vehicle speed to maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead.

ACC technology is widely regarded as a key component of any future generations of intelligent cars. They impact driver safety and convenience as well as increasing capacity of roads by maintaining optimal separation between vehicles and reducing driver errors.
Autonomous cruise control system - Wikipedia
 
I've just picked up this thread, so apologies for late entry.

I'm now on my second car with this feature, and can honestly say that it and Head-Up Display have become absolutely essential to me. Assuming finances allow, I will always insist that any car I have in the future will have them.

ACC takes a bit of getting used to, but boy, is it worthwhile! With HUD, OTH, you instantly adapt to it.
 
Was by far the best feature of my previous car (Volvo V40).

Made motorway driving in rush hour so easy, car would follow in lane and stop behind car in front when stuck in traffic moving off and following as traffic eased. That combined with the Lane assist that allowed it to steer itself at low speed in traffic on the motorway made for a very relaxed traffic jam driving style.

The similar system on my BMW i3 was nowhere near as good as it worked only with cameras rather than Radar/Lidar. This lead to it losing view when the sun was low in the sky (Morning and Evening driving when it was most needed). And it would just fail to work and hand back to the driver at the most inopportune moments. To the point where I never bothered using it.

Do miss the Volvo system and going forward it will become a must have in future cars purchased.
 
I've just picked up this thread, so apologies for late entry.

I'm now on my second car with this feature, and can honestly say that it and Head-Up Display have become absolutely essential to me. Assuming finances allow, I will always insist that any car I have in the future will have them.

ACC takes a bit of getting used to, but boy, is it worthwhile! With HUD, OTH, you instantly adapt to it.

What make & model of car is this?
 
What make & model of car is this?
BMW 5-Series; 65 plate.
Before that, it was a Jaguar XF; 59 plate.

I take the point which PRESSTOG made. I've heard about the BMW camera-only systems (possibly other makes, too), and there have been some tales about them giving up at very inconvenient, not to say dangerous, moments. I think they're on the smaller Beamers (1-, 2- Series; X1). Personally, as with PRESSTOG, I wouldn't touch them. The 5-Series is fine.

Although with all these systems you must be alert to sudden failure; the Jag was occasionally confused by very heavy rain and spray. At least they know they're not working and can warn you.

I'm continually impressed by their cleverness. For instance, if a car cuts in front too closely, the systems won't brake if it detects that the offender is moving even slightly faster than me; whereas I would have braked excessively (and got annoyed, too). It's hard on passengers who aren't used to it, though.

I read somewhere that the Jag system at least is adapted from collision avoidance systems for aircraft.
 
ACC is also probably the single feature that is the most exciting development in years. Not only for safety but for making driving less of a headache.
 

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